Feinstein Adds to Her Lead

SACRAMENTO — As county election officials continue to tally absentee ballots throughout the state, Republican Rep. Mike Huffington's chances of defeating U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein appear to be shrinking.

By late Tuesday, Democrat Feinstein held a lead of 131,082 votes out of more than 7 million cast in the Senate race, according to figures compiled by the secretary of state's office. After the polls closed Nov. 8, local voting officials had an estimated 700,000 absentee ballots still to be counted and Feinstein held a lead of 123,610 votes.

With 230,000 of those ballots now counted, Feinstein still clings to a slim lead, with 3,711,499 votes to Huffington's 3,580,417. To win, Huffington would have to capture almost 64% of the remaining ballots, which is thought to be unlikely.